


The Pleasures of Young Werther

by Grey_eyed_Ceridwen



Series: The Pleasures of Young Werther [1]
Category: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers | The Sorrows of Young Werther - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Genre: Doing God’s Work, F/M, M/M, My AU where Goethe is less mean, Oral Sex, Sex, The Obvious solution to Werther’s problem, They have a soft and good time, Threesome, Werther didn’t kill himself, Werther needs some tlc, Werther’s Original Hard Candy, handjobs, refferences to suicidal thoughts, the sorrows of young werther, they love each other very much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 09:42:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23009512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grey_eyed_Ceridwen/pseuds/Grey_eyed_Ceridwen
Summary: "I am of a mind that you aren't well," Albert said rather sharply, "You haven't been yourself as of late, and the conversation we had, your senseless arguments that a man may take his own life - they haven't left my head this whole evening. I cannot... I will not be responsible for... I hardly slept at all last night, to think what could have happened had I — Werther..."  softening his voice, he leaned forward. "Lotte would be beside herself if something happened to you."
Relationships: Lotte/Albert, Werther/Albert, Werther/Lotte, Werther/Lotte/Albert
Series: The Pleasures of Young Werther [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740205
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	The Pleasures of Young Werther

Werther murmured confidentially to Lotte as they leaned over the table, immersed in a few poignant lines of Ossian together. He felt rather fatigued, and knew it was likely made worse by the several glasses of wine he had accepted that evening, in a seemingly hopeless attempt to throw off his melancholy.

Albert watched them with some irritation, his chin in his hand, his coffee cup pushed aside. He appeared quite absorbed in thought, a troubled look weighing on his features. Werther wondered if perhaps he had caused him greater disquiet by failing to care a great deal for his appearance. He knew that he bore the dark skin of sleepless nights beneath his eyes, and hadn't been eating regularly. He knew people had surely been talking.

Every time Werther caught his own gaze lingering longingly on Lotte's fair cheek, or hand, he was reminded of Albert’s presence, and painfully made aware of the strange tension that had developed between the three of them. 

Albert tapped his finger against the table, coughing and pushing back his chair to remind the pair that a late hour had approached. They lingered for a few moments to exchange parting sentiments, Werther feeling calmer than he usually did at parting with Lotte. He began to leave, doing his utmost to display an air of indifference, but Albert halted him.

"Stay for some coffee, Werther." He said, sounding strangely urgent.

"Thank you, but it is getting late..." Werther turned to meet his gaze tiredly.

"No, please, I insist..." Albert continued meeting his polite protests until he was obliged to give in and sat sullenly at the table, watching steam rise from his cup. 

There was tense silence, several times they broke into half strangled small talk that ended abruptly. Finally, clearing his throat apprehensively, Werther looked up from his cup.

"Albert, my dear fellow, I require your pistols for a journey I am making." 

He said it calmly, even feigning boredom. He was surprised when Albert looked somewhat affronted.

"Where are you departing to on such short notice?" He said quietly, "you haven't mentioned anything about work, or studies." He watched Werther's face carefully as he spoke.

"Ah yes, I suppose I've forgotten to mention it, but I must call on the prince who so generously hosted me during my time away. He was quite taken with my readings." 

"You haven't told Lotte?" Albert remarked, and Werther felt his facade begin to come apart. 

"No... no, I haven't." He murmured, sipping coffee and refusing to meet his eyes in a marked departure from his usual painfully earnest manner.

"I'm afraid I can't lend them to you, Werther."  
Albert said, seeming to keep a coolness in his tone.

"Why not?" Werther inquired. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes, and he stopped speaking as he struggled to master his own terrifying passions.

"I am of a mind that you aren't well," Albert said rather sharply, "You haven't been yourself as of late, and the conversation we had, your senseless arguments that a man may take his own life - they haven't left my head this whole evening. I cannot... I will not be responsible for... I hardly slept at all last night, to think what could have happened had I — Werther..." softening his voice, he leaned forward. "Lotte would be beside herself if something happened to you."

Werther shook his head obstinately, shocked by this sudden outburst, and that he had so disturbed Albert's peace. He rested his head in his hands for a moment, trying to recover his composure. 

"Albert, do you think I... I would seriously consider such extremities? I require a change of scenery, the town, the shadowed lanes where I often walked with her, all these places which once seemed divine now press upon my heart. I have been quite self indulgent, but she is your wife, and I will not come between you anymore."

Werther attempted to sound convincing, though his tone of voice betrayed him.

"I suppose, you're about to tell me how unreasonable I am being," He continued, averting his gaze, "and some of those things Lotte has said to me sound awfully like you..." Werther was gesticulating with his spoon as he spoke, "you'll say that once again, I am exaggerating things - " breaking off with a weary smile, he shook his head, "but then, we don't often understand each other, few men do... Oh Albert, if the life of man is truly a dream, as the philosophers have suspected, it is likely that no two souls wander through the same one. All are coloured by different desires, sometimes monstrous and tormenting, sometimes as gentle as dawn’s rosy hands lifting the veil of night from our eyes...”

He trailed off as Albert gently took hold of his hand and placed his tea spoon on his saucer. Werther initially regarded him with indignation, but his eyes softened when Albert spoke.

"Speak plainly, Werther. Is there nothing - your studies, or other such hobbies, that bring you joy, which you can pursue and seek refuge from this melancholy in? Perhaps you ought not to read such things, that fill your mind with dark ideas." His advice was spoken curtly and with honest concern.

"Ah," Werther sighed, "I have everything a man could wish for - and yet, I am not happy. She absorbs it all, I can no longer enjoy my garden, which I used to delight in as a perfect Eden, because she is not there to look at the flowers. My books, even great Ossian, have become painful to read. I find a piece of her in each verse, and am sad to part with them when I close the volume." 

"Ossian?" Albert said with incredulity, "the author of those great, ambling accounts of oppressive gloom and melancholy - that is reading unfit for even a sick man. Now, far more admirable are the stories of noble Odysseus -"

"- yes, and his faithful Penêlopé" Werther finished, standing up and making ready to set off. "I have tired of Homer, dear to my heart as he is, I have no desire to page through now that I have read the ending." 

"We may disagree on many things, but, there is something that no one in their right mind could agree to - to put you in danger, Werther, to lose you, with your great love of life - that would be inconceivable - it is wrong." Albert spoke tenderly, taking the man's trembling hand in both of his, leaning forwards in his seat.

Werther opened his mouth, searching for words, and his eyes misted with tears. Albert placed a hand on his shoulder, and Werther raised his eyes to meet his, startled and watery, hectic spots of colour appearing on his cheeks.

It was then that Albert leaned forwards and covered his soft lips with his own, silencing any further protest he might have had. For one brief, glorious moment, Werther kissed him back, his confusion evident, the force of his movements ached with tumultuous feeling.

Werther laid a hand on his chest, and Albert allowed him to push him away, enough to see that his tears had spilled over. Werther pushed Alberts hand from his face with shaking fingers.

"Why on earth... would you do such a thing?" He said sharply, nearly hysterically, some fire returning to his eyes. "Do you not love Lotte, have I... are you not content with mocking me merely in words?”

"No, Werther-" 

-"How clever of you!" Werther cut him off, "'Be a man', is that it? Are you treating me like some sort of fragile woman in order to make one of those clever statements, such as Lotte sometimes recounts to me... I admit, I always liked you second only to her, but you can't understand, you never shall..."

"I love Lotte with all my soul," Albert said softly, "I can never forget the blessings conferred on me by her mother in approving our union. But Werther, she loves you, it would take a fool not to see that... as do I."

Werther was speechless. Beneath his righteous anger he shook with barely contained sorrow.  
It shouldn't have felt like so much, he knew, to clasp Albert's warm hand in his, and to hear him murmur fiery words against his trembling lips. 

"I love you dearly..." Albert said in a rush of breath, his hand wandering down soft skin to the thudding pulse at his throat. "As does Lotte, and it pains me to see you suffering, Werther." Werther shuddered visibly, his graceful fingers threaded in the hair at the base of Alberts neck like he held on for dear life against the gentle touch. 

Albert's embrace was so genuine, so full of concern, that it made the ache in his chest subside for the first time in months. "I... I'm afraid I don't understand, Albert... how is it you can say such things, after all I've done, after what I would have..."

Werther's shoulders hitched slightly, and Albert realized with a shock that he was crying. He let his hands drop to rest on his shoulders.

"Are you alright?" 

"I'm just... a bit overwhelmed, you see... it's no matter" Though he didn't sound incredibly sincere, Werther sucked in a sharp breath and touched their lips together again. He was unsurprised that this new addition to his passions affected him violently. What man has ever calmly received such a turbulent force as love?

Albert's lips wandered the length of his jaw, and Werther's hands felt along his neck, as though he was making sure he was in fact, corporeal. 

"I feel strange..." he paused for a moment, quivering as though every one of his nerves vibrated as Albert's breath hit his skin.

"I'm so happy..." Werther continued thickly, "but it's strange... how can my heart possibly contain so much at once? And why is man so foolish that he seeks always to limit what he feels, when love makes up so much of our lot of happiness?" 

Albert lifted his head, "Matters of love are indeed quite strange," he shifted his hips forwards, and they both tightened their grip on one another. "But there's no sense in dwelling on them, and driving yourself to despair." He could feel Werther's need not just in the tight grip on his shoulders, how easily he'd become flush and hot. 

A few remaining tears still dropped from Werther's chin as he helped him undo the buttons on his shirt and waistcoat with trembling hands. As Albert parted his shirt gently to reveal more of his pale skin, he averted his gaze, colour further darkening his face. 

"You don't understand, Albert, I..."

Werther shuddered, his voice quivering and breaking as Albert's hands explored his chest, his fingers running gently over the particularly sensitive areas, before coming to rest at his abdomen. Werther looked at him as he collected himself somewhat and began to tentatively offer his touch in return, eliciting a groan. 

Their mouths clashed in a tender struggle, each attempting to forcibly convey something to the other as their hands wandered further, past the barriers of clothing and misunderstandings. Their bodies began to find a rhythm of motion that made a thrilling sensation rush up Werther's spine. Soft sounds escaped his mouth, and they attempted to stifle them in kisses, though Albert murmured that he thought them endearing. 

They moved slowly against one another, entwined in this way, enveloped in the ever building heat and sensation, occasionally murmuring words as they broke apart to pant for breath. 

Werther, Albert knew, was no doubt nearing the end of his self restraint. He felt the warm wetness against his palm and watched his muscles contract as he swallowed, his eyes dropping shut, his head tilting...

"Albert-" Lotte's musical voice chimed, and a loud crash broke both of them from their embrace. They turned to see Lotte gazing on them with a look of absolute bewilderment, the tray that had contained Albert's evening glass of red wine lay at her feet.

Lotte recovered from her shock, and lightly overstepped the glass on the floor. Albert watched a look of horror pass over Werther's face, as though he was appalled at the idea hat he had hurt her. She simply cast an angelic smile of understanding at them.

He exchanged a knowing glance with his wife, and she embraced him briefly before turning to Werther, her face glowing with a greater radiance than usual.

"I'm so happy..." she said, beaming at him as she laid a hand against his cheek. "Surely no one can have a greater love for one another than us three, Werther. We no longer need to be plagued by misunderstanding." 

His mute astonishment seemed merely to increase when she placed a chaste kiss on his lips and took hold of his hands. Her gaze lowered to his undone shirt and trousers, at which he flushed crimson. 

"I've been worried, you seemed quiet forlorn this evening - but I see Albert has raised your spirits, and you are your usual self!" She smiled coyly at her husband, and Werther had to restrain himself from falling to his knees and thanking her for her angelic understanding. 

It took little convincing before he found himself in their bedroom, kissing Lotte as she began to disrobe. His heart pounded as though it was ready to burst from his chest. He muttered a prayer beneath his breath as she took his hand and moved it beneath her undergarments to rest at one of her fair breasts. He had longed to do so himself, but it had seemed improper to seek to touch someone so sacred as she. 

"You must be tired dear, but you aren't spent yet, are you?" She laughed gaily as she skillfully took him in hand and he felt the blood rush to his head and stomach simultaneously.

Albert placed gentle kisses at Lotte's throat, his hand joining Werther's. Werther watched, enraptured as she inclined her head in distracted bliss and felt moisture collect in his eyes. 

Before long, they were both insistently pushing him back onto the bedclothes, Lotte softly entreating him to remain still and laughing. Werther was left somewhat helpless as the two quickly stripped him of his remaining clothes. He could do little but shiver as her delicate lips touched his stomach. Albert ran his hands once more over his chest, and he moaned, turning his head to the side in embarrassment as Lotte's warm tongue traced the crease at his hipbone. 

He was so thoroughly overtaken by emotion that the overwhelming jolt of sensations he received all at once nearly caused him to faint. Tears were forced from his eyes as the two briefly worked their mouths on him together, their hands wandering; the perfect woman he loved and the man who, until now, he had found somewhat insufferable. It astonished him with what tenderness the same man now touched his bare skin. 

He choked back a slight sob, and Lotte, perhaps sensing that he was overwhelmed, now halted and shifted effortlessly to sit next to him. 

"What is it, Werther - what makes you so unhappy?" She spoke softly, her face filled with concern. He sat up and shook his head, her beauty intoxicating his mind like it always did.

"No - it's no matter." He attempted to breathe regularly, not to dwell on things. However, one sympathetic glance at his face was all it took for a veritable flood of emotion to crush his outward composure. He opened his mouth to speak, and felt the weight of so many days and nights of anxious worry suffocating him. 

Lotte allowed him to take her hand, and he watched tears drop onto her smooth skin. Albert offered his as well and he accepted it, attempting to speak coherently through his tears. 

"I feel," he said finally, "as though I must wake at any moment, for only in dreams have I felt so liberated, so stupidly happy. Oh Lotte, oh Albert - surely it cannot be reality that I should be graced with the love of two of whom I am unworthy. Surely it is impossible for a man to be blessed with so much!"

"Oh, Werther! Please, don't talk in such a way..." Lotte's compassion seemed deeply stirred when he met her eyes tearfully. 

"I, who have caused you nothing but pain, Lotte..." he gripped their hands tightly between his, now speaking to Albert, "and prevented you from enjoying the peace and domesticity of marriage... too weak to do what prudence demanded of me..."

"It was not weakness," Albert said, pressing his hand reassuringly. 

Werther shook his head, "You don't understand... it pains me to think of it, but I very nearly did something terrible." 

He was in quite a state, at this outpouring of grief he'd kept inside himself for so long, However, the turbulence of his heart was beginning to still somewhat from the relief of sharing his feelings.

Embracing him, and quiet emotional herself, Lotte said "Now Werther dear, you must know how much I enjoy your company. Reading poetry is simply not the same without you, nor walking by the stream, or any of the things we used often to do together. You sometimes say things so close to my own heart, I marvel at the way we are connected. You know how much I treasure our time together.”

"I apologize... I have failed to contain myself again." He said quietly, feeling unusually ashamed of his honesty.

"You need not apologize." Said Albert, placing a hand on his shoulder, "but please, don't hide your sufferings from us any longer, for then how can we help you?"

"I... I suppose I had thought I was beyond the help of anyone...” He murmured, their words, spoken so sincerely, further calming his emotions, and causing fresh feelings to well up in his heart.

"Now, that is nonsense," Lotte withdrew her hand only to take his face in her hands, "Those who love you will always seek the opportunity to aid you." She kissed him, then, and he was utterly powerless to resist in the face of her charm. 

As she devoured his lips, and, as it seemed to him, his soul, in a manner of agonizing slowness, Albert pressed his lips gently to his throat, then his collarbone.

"And as for your inability to contain yourself, your honesty, who else is there on earth like you in that respect?" He kissed his chest now, running his hands along his sides. "Those singularities of yours are dear to me." 

Lotte draped herself against his chest, her soft lips fluttering along his jaw and throat, eventually raising her head to capture the groans from his mouth in a kiss. 

She guided his hands as they caressed her smooth skin, beginning at her chest. He moved them reverently down to her waist as they kissed, rubbing gently at her inner thighs for the heavenly pleasure of hearing her gasp and feeling her shiver in his arms.

"Lotte... I cannot comprehend how lucky a man I must be..." he faltered, struggling to speak coherently, "to be blessed with your touch, to be subject to passions so divine..."

Laying a few dainty fingers on his lips, and trailing them playfully down his chin to his collarbone, she said "Werther, as much I appreciate your sentiments, there is another way in which you may deliver them to me."

However, his impassioned murmurings were cut short then, at the sensation of Albert's tongue trailing lightly along his burning flesh, while he caressed gently his inner thigh. 

Lotte sighed softly as he fumbled to follow her guidance and felt her tense warmth around his  
fingers. He wished to tell her how thoroughly he adored each part of her, each beat of her heart and soft curve, but he was unable to speak. He carefully explored further with his hand, pressing gentle kisses to her neck that gradually became more fervent. He gripped her tightly as Albert's warm mouth drove him into paroxysms of bliss, his voice escaping his lips in broken exhalations. 

"Oh darling," Lotte whispered in tones of ecstasy, "I'm certain no one but you two could make my heart race so." 

"You... you mustn't say things like that..." he swallowed, "Lotte, it is simply unfair..." Werther spoke with difficulty.

He was nearly driven to tears again by the sheer intensity of the pleasurable sensations that crowded his mind. It took little time for them to reach a nearly intolerable point, tremors running through his body in anticipation. 

"Albert, I..." he attempted to speak, but Albert saved him the effort, raising his head to gaze hazily at him, his face coloured.

Albert rested his hand on his stomach, feeling it tense beneath his touch. Werther met his gaze, panting for breath as Lotte knowingly tried to soothe the tension that had crept into his shoulders. 

"If only you could see how dearly beautiful you both are, though I suppose you'll resent me for saying so."

Werther was unable to answer, an incomprehensible moan was forced out of his mouth as Albert moved his hand in a way that seemed to wrench him apart. He felt lightheaded and wondered if perhaps he would simply die from the intensity of heat and longing he felt. 

Lotte held him as a thousand little deaths shook his body, and his eyes dropped shut. He returned her embrace, clutching for Albert's hand while his limbs seemed to melt. 

Lotte gently kissed him, smoothing his hair as he continued the gentle motions of his fingers within her. Albert stroked his shoulders as the uncontrollable motions of his limbs gradually ebbed and his body slackened in relief. 

Chuckling lightly, Albert pressed his lips to Werther's forehead, fondly caressing Lotte's cheek. She leaned forwards to kiss him, sliding a delicate hand down his abdomen with ardent affection. He sighed, Werther sinking into him in exhaustion as his hand joined Lotte’s in returning Albert's favour to him. He was struck by how enticing he appeared, his mouth parted, breathing quickly.

In seeing Lotte's eyes flutter shut, her face colouring a shade darker, Werther was unable to keep himself from kissing her. 

"Oh Albert, Werther, I love you both ever so much!" She trembled like a flower in the breeze when Albert's touch accompanied Werther's. He wandered from her lips to her fair neck as her pleasure reached its highest point, and she gasped out words of euphoria.

Werther touched her with extreme care, as though he was afraid of overwhelming her. Albert watched their tender kiss with what seemed to Werther a gaze of almost adoration. It took little time for their hands to bring him to the same state of thrilling sensation. They all became joined in a tangled embrace, lips meeting haphazardly. 

"Albert, I must one day repay you in full for your kindness..." Werther murmured, his tongue soft against the sensitive skin of his neck, his pulse thudding beneath. Albert attempted to respond, but merely groaned as he came undone in their hands, Lotte murmuring terms of endearment to him.

For some time afterwards they lay together, Werther sleepily watching the soft rise and fall of Lotte’s chest. 

"I'm convinced..." he spoke slowly as he recovered his breath, "that you both shall be the death of me one day. Just as this town was becoming unbearably oppressive, you have made me feel that I’d never wish to leave it.”

Lotte reached for each of their hands, and holding them she said tenderly "Oh Werther, you mustn't ever leave us, we'd miss you so!" 

"I wouldn't, not for all the world..." 

"What of the journey you've told me you must make?" said Albert.

Werther shook his head wearily, “It is not of any urgency, and I'm no longer in the spirit to depart, the traveling seems rather tedious to me. I suppose, as well, I would miss you both terribly." 

"Then the matter is decided," spoke Lotte tiredly and triumphantly, "you must stay for afternoon tea tomorrow, there are some lines of Homer I'd like you to read with me." 

Werther chuckled, stifling the joy that threatened to choke him. "I feel as though my heart shall burst at any moment, from wont of space for such passions as I now feel. Tea indeed, a suitably mundane celebration... though strangely, I feel I could conceive of nothing more divine." 

They fell silent for a moment, when these words had been spoken.

“And perhaps afterwards...” Lotte continued speaking, only to discover that Werther had fallen asleep. For the first night in some time, he was troubled by no strange dreams, though tears sometimes escaped his eyes as he slept, and dropped onto Lotte's shoulder.


End file.
